


slow motion & i'm watching our love

by Anonymous



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anger Management, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Internet Trolls, Soft Ben Solo, YouTube, Youtuber Rey, ben and rey both have issues, businessman Ben, but they're working on them, it's just cute reylo fluff, together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:54:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23783464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Rey’s a popular Youtuber for a reason; her aesthetic is legendary and she puts her life and soul and degree in cinema into every ten-minute video. When he’d met her, working at Poe’s cafe while interning in Hollywood and trying to nurture a budding channel, her creativity had drawn him to her. She’d attempted to calligraph her number onto his napkin one day, and that had been it for him. He’d irrevocably fallen for a girl ten years his junior and with a personality as bright as the sun.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 13
Kudos: 126
Collections: Anonymous





	slow motion & i'm watching our love

Ben’s your average black-tie businessman. He likes dark roast coffee, he works overtime six days a week, and he yells at his subordinates casually on a day-to-day basis. He’s intimidating, is known for having explosive temper tantrums, and he used to destroy his furniture so often his PA had the store on speed dial.

Today he’s wearing a bright yellow shirt with  _ Rey of Sunshine  _ emblazoned on it, sitting in front of four different cameras all angled slightly differently, while his girlfriend adjusts the mics underneath them so that they’re  _ just right.  _ “This is going to be  _ amazing  _ Ben! They’re going to love you,” Rey says as she finishes his mic up and kisses his cheek. “You’ve got this!”

“You’re lucky I love you,” he groans, a hint of a smile following afterward. She blows him a kiss as she starts the camera and gestures for him to smile. He does so, albeit a little bit awkwardly.

“Hey-lo my sunshines!” Rey starts with a radiant smile on her face, her buns bouncing. “Welcome to today’s episode of my ‘Trying to be a Beauty Guru’ series. I’d like to introduce you to someone really special to me . . . my boyfriend, Ben!”

She throws her right arm around him and he smiles awkwardly for the camera and the future audience. “Hey everyone . . . I’m Ben,” he says with a wave. “I guess I’m going to be doing Rey’s makeup today. Just let it be known that I have literally never touched these products before, so I deeply apologize for the imminent mess I will create. Don’t expect too much from me, please.”

She smiles at him again, a straight-up  _ blinding  _ smile, love in her eyes apparent. “I know you guys are gonna have a lot of questions, so I’ll be posting a boyfriend tag in a bit! But I really wanted to have someone do my makeup, and Ben definitely doesn’t know what he’s doing, so it’s gonna be a great time. Make sure to click the like button and subscribe for more of my super unique content! And my merch is still for sale,” she gestures at their shirts, “so go and grab it if you want to!”

Then she reaches over and grabs the makeup bag, sitting out of frame, and shoves it into his hands. “Do your worst,” she says mischievously, and he gulps. 

It ends up being a funny video — Rey constantly making strange faces to avoid getting products in her mouth and eyes, being her trademark funny and kind self. She ends up looking a little ridiculous, with lipstick as eyeshadow and concealer on her mouth, but they’re both laughing and at the end of it he’s more comfortable in front of the camera. His speech stops being the enunciated dialect his mother and his job boxed him into, and he feels, almost, like he’s back in his college days — having fun again. Rey’s absolutely amazing for him.

She posts it four days later, a regular editing burrito under her sheets whenever he gets home. She’s an adorable mess when she gets into one of her ‘moods’, crawling underneath their blankets on the couch while  _ Friends  _ plays on the TV, soundlessly, fluffy pink headphones engulfing her head. When he comes home on Wednesday to her fast asleep, he sees that the video has been uploaded — she’d been up late for several nights trying to get it done. He’d tried to force her to go to bed when he’d gotten home but she’d just shaken her head and eaten the Chinese food he brought home single-handedly while adding in a few handwritten transitions. Rey’s a popular Youtuber for a reason; her aesthetic is legendary and she puts her life and soul and degree in cinema into every ten-minute video. When he’d met her, working at Poe’s cafe while interning in Hollywood and trying to nurture a budding channel, her creativity had drawn him to her. She’d attempted to calligraph her number onto his napkin one day, and that had been it for him. He’d irrevocably fallen for a girl ten years his junior and with a personality as bright as the sun.

His life had been utterly depressing, having been brought up with an absent father and a mother who cared a little too much about her rising career as a director. He’d been a brooding soul when he’d gone to college, letting loose with his friends, Poe the best of them, once in a while before getting sucked into Alastor Snoke’s corporate shithole of a company. The job had paid well but been absolutely corrupt and soul-sucking — eventually he’d left to join his Aunt Amilyn’s hedge fund. He was still a terror but he made her a  _ lot  _ of money, so she tended to let it go with his mother.

He’d met Rey in the middle of this mess, and she’d been true to her online reputation. Rey was just a piece of sunshine — a tough, hardworking piece of sunshine, but one nonetheless. She’d supported him unconditionally through his legal issues with Snoke and restarted his relationship with his mother. She, unlike everyone else in his life, wasn’t afraid of him; she wasn’t afraid of telling him when he was being obstinate, or stubborn, and would always remind him that she loved him regardless.

Ben had a hard time believing that a lot of the time. That Rey loved him. Obviously he loved her — most people did, and she had the millions of subscribers to prove it — but she’d always seemed too good for him. What did a beautiful girl with her life just beginning and the world at her fingertips get out of being with him, a monster? 

It wasn’t until later, when she admitted her past to him, showed him the pain and struggles which built up her supporting attitude, that he understood. They were both alone and they’d promised each other  _ never again. _

The first time Rey had broken in front of him it’d been after a particularly bad day at the cafe. One of her customers had yelled at her and spilled coffee down her front and she’d barely been able to keep it together. At first he thought that she’d perhaps been overreacting a bit, but then again he’d never worked a service job so maybe he just had no idea what she was talking about. Then she’d told him about her past, about Unkar Plutt and starving at midnight and getting scalded in the desert heat trying to convince him to give her anything, and broken beer bottles and telling the hospital she’d fallen down the stairs and how raised voices made her want to curl up into a ball and hide away from the world. And how she always kept a smile on her face, always tried to be everyone for everything because she couldn’t bear disapproval, couldn’t bear being  _ thrown away again —  _

He’d clutched her to his chest and made a promise to himself that no matter what happened he would never do that; never yell or raise his voice. He’d gone to his therapist and told her that he was going to work on his anger issues, that he was going to actually make an effort this time. Rey was worth the change, worth the fist-clenching and the meditation and the infuriating yoga she’d supported him through. She’d supported his change, hadn’t been like his family who’d ignored the issue. And he’d supported hers, helped her learn how to say no, how to take care of herself. They’d worked on each other and watered each other’s roots and they’d grown. 

Maybe he tried a little too hard sometimes, but his work was demanding and Rey was everything to him so when she’d asked if he would be okay with being on her channel he’d said yes without much of a thought. He’d been behind a camera for two and a half years, and of course eventually her subscriber base, mainly older teens and young adults, would want to know more about him. They were probably expecting a younger dudebro who was also incessantly positive instead of a brooding workaholic, but he was who he was. And as her channel was growing, she was being recognized more and more. At least this way she could introduce him to the four-point-six million people who’d pressed the button. 

Oh, shit. He gulped at the posted video, at the unrefreshed screen. Who knows how many views it had by now. He could see the comments already, discussing his odd looking face and distinct pronunciation and stalwart glare. Asking about their age difference and thinking he was emotionally abusive or just an asshole. Shit. Shit. Shit.

He’s on the couch, her feet in his lap, and he’s shaking a little, trying to control his breathing. When she wakes up and puts her hand over his heart he takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes, and when he wakes up again she’s staring at him, half-awake. “It’ll be okay,” she breathes with him, “it’s going to be okay.”

Then she reaches over and closes the laptop screen, telling their Alexa to turn off the lights. As they dim she snuggles into him, and he presses into the couch. It’s a tight fit, but they work together — like puzzle pieces, each limb meeting together — so her breathing in sync with his calms him, and they fall asleep in the dark, and he lets the world leave him behind.

  
  
  
  


When Ben wakes up, it’s four in the morning and he normally wakes up a  _ little  _ later but he has to get to work early anyways; might as well go on his run now and spend a little more time with Rey when she wakes up. He grabs a blanket from the stack placed up against the TV and pulls it over her still form, adjusting her back so that she doesn’t wake up with too much of a crick in her neck. He eyes her computer, with its obnoxious watercolor stickers on it, still closed, and takes in a deep breath before leaving it there. They can brace the world when she gets up.

He runs an extra mile and jumps right into the shower when he gets back, and when he steps out of the bathroom in just his boxers, Rey is sitting up with a cup of coffee at their kitchen island, the pot steaming on the counter behind her, scrolling through comments. She’s not a morning person, but her face is bright.

She doesn’t seem to notice him so he slides in next to her after grabbing his coffee. “Should I look?”

She nods. Hopefully, they aren’t too terrible. Hopefully, he won’t regret officially putting his life on the internet.

His eyes take a few minutes to adjust to the bright lighting.

  
  
  


**literALLyRey:** this is N O T what i expected but tbh i’m kinda here for it

**CanadaMapleSyrup:** okay so his name is ben solo and this means we officially get to ship reylo

**today_is_all_sunshine:** He’s… kind of hot? I DON'T KNOW not really my type but they look cute together

**sundayBaby:** Why was he talking so formally at the beginning?? Also is anyone else here kinda freaked by how old/different he seems? It’s kind of weird to me, he seems like the opposite of her

_@sundayBaby_ **hellosunshine:** They’ve clearly been together for a long time and we know he helps her record and everything, and if they’re in a relationship that seems great who are we to judge

_ @sundayBaby  _ **KindofPig:** maybe he was raised like that?? and if theyre 2 consenting adults whats the problem lmao

**GlitterIsIt:** Okay but can we talk about how bad this mans is at makeup? Like I think we can all agree that he’s hot af but I think we can also agree that he has no idea what he’s doing lol like this might be one of the best ‘bf does my makeup challenge’s I’ve literally ever seen!

_ @GlitterIsIt  _ **LANYhere:** yup omgg i was literally crying and laughing the entire time like,,, he tried to FEED her foundation

**Krystal Parks:** can we get the boyfriend tag i need to know more about you guys cause your relationship is already goals

**Ellllle:** can’t tell if he’s genuinely a creep or just awkward

_ @Ellllle  _ **hereforthetea:** umm . . . awkward girl? C'mon he obviously got a lot more comfortable when they got into it

_ @hereforthetea  _ **Ellllle:** he doesn’t look like the kind of guy rey would date though

_ @Ellllle  _ **hereforthetea:** well guess what Rey is an adult woman who can take care of herself and u need to get with it

  
  
  


The comments continue, a couple thousand of them already, and he continues to see that while some of his concerns appeared he seems to be getting an overall positive response from her audience. He scoots closer to her and closes the computer again. 

“See, they love you,” she laughs, clutching his hand to her. 

“Well, I don’t know about love, but that was a much better reaction than I expected. I suppose we’ll have to film that ‘Boyfriend Tag’ tomorrow, huh?”

“Tomorrow?”

“I’m taking an off day.”

She leans in and kisses his cheek, and he quickly reciprocates. “Yay. Now how about you go to work and we can go out later with Finn and Poe to celebrate baring our relationship to the internet. And then tomorrow we can go out for lunch and then film our ‘Boyfriend Tag’ and then take some pics for Instagram. And then maybe we can get some wine and finish watching  _ Stranger Things.  _ Does that . . . does that sound okay?”

“Of course,” and his smile is genuine, and his mind is calm, and when she drags him off the counter and convinces him to get ready he pauses outside the closet and presses his lips to her hair because  _ he’s not alone.  _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i'm trying to get out of a writer's block so i grinded this out. reylo fluff is literally all i exist for at this point :)


End file.
